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Grumman F-14A Tomcat references


dromia

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For some odd reason I find myself going to build Hasegawa's first tool F-14A.

 

I am in sore need of reference as anything after the EE Lightning jet wise holds no interest for me so I am bereft reference wise save for wading through shelves full of old modelling magazines most of which are pre 1980.

 

So I am looking for a good publications list with detail photos of the beast and some good profiles.

 

Internet links are welcomed also but I have trouble reading on screen for any time so books preferred for that reason and they are far more tactile portable and accessible than a PC.

 

All help and advice gratefully received.

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If it's a website, you're looking for, look no further than here:

 

http://www.anft.net/f-14/

 

It's the best site dedicated to the Tomcat and one of the best website on any combat aircraft.

 

When it comes to books, it's not easy to find a book that shows a good blend of pictures, details and profiles. There are some very good books covering one aspect but none IMHO is perfect at covering every aspect

 

The very best book for detail photos is without doubt the Daco volume on the type, that shows every area in great detail. This does not include any profile or pictures of markings.

 

https://www.dacoproducts.com/KDCB003.php

 

Other good books with detail pictures are the Squadron Signal Walkaround and the old Verlinden Lock on. Both are older than the Daco book and as a consequence they don't cover some of the features added to the Tomcat in the final years of its career with the USN.

 

If you just want profiles, there are plenty in the book issued by Histoire and Collections in France. French language but the drawings speak by themselves

 

https://histoireetcollections.com/fr/livres-aviation/4272-grumman-tomcat-f-14.html

 

However as you want something that has a bit of both, none of the books above will likely be what you're looking for. One option you may like is the SAM Modeller Datafile that features a description of the variants, a decent number of detail pictures, pictures of the real aircraft and some profiles, plus a few builds of various kits. This has recently been updated and is available from their website

 

https://www.sampublications.com/webshop/books/modellers-datafiles/brand-new-mdf-35-the-grumman-f-14-tomcat/

 

An older volume is the Aerofax Minigraph, with a good selection of pictures and some profiles in B/W. As this is an older book, it does not cover the later development of the Tomcat. Book is long OOP but can be found easily on the second hand market.

 

The same French publisher mentioned above also has a small book with a history of the type, a good number of profiles and some detail pictures of the cockpit and weapons, This is also available in English and is maybe the cheapest option around...

 

https://histoireetcollections.com/fr/livres-en-anglais/2662-f-14-tomcat-gb-9782352500735.html

 

Another cheap introduction to the type is the volume by Aviation Classics:

 

https://www.aviationclassics.co.uk/issue-13-f-14-tomcat/

 

It's OOP but should be hard to find a copy. This includes a good history, many pictures and a few small profiles. Only detail pictures however are of the cockpit.

 

So which one would I recommend ? Really one single book is hard to suggest, the Modeller Datafile is maybe the best compromise here. I only have the previous edition of this and IMHO it's not a great book, Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, but I feel that the same publisher has done better with other books in the same series. It's also a book with several mistakes, nothing major but a number of small annoying things. The newer edition may be better of course and this title has the advantage of offering a bit of everything into a single volume.

A book I would suggest if you can read Japanese is the Model Art Profile, that is IMHO a great resource, with plenty of detail pictures, some good profiles, a history of the type with several drawings of various details and a few builds. This is OOP and may not be easy to find. Model Art Profiles can also be quite expensive on the second hand market but sometimes it's possible to get one for reasonable figures. But again, the language does not make this book as easy to read as the MDF one...

 

 

 

 

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I'm not familiar with a couple of the books Giorgio referenced, but I agree with his comments and criticism of SAM Publications Modeler's Datafile on the F-14 (I'm not familiar with the updated edition, hopefully they took time to correct the multitude of minor errors in the original release).  Overall I'd say the first edition MDF is worth buying only if you can get it for £10 or less.

 

A far more comprehensive resource is Airtime Publishing's "F-14 Tomcat - Shipborne Superfighter."  This is lavishly illustrated (mostly in full color) and covers development, operating units, and service history (up to its 1998 publication date). Unfortunately this one has been out of print for a while, but I'd consider it worth "collector" prices if you have any love for the Tomcat.

 

On more of a budget, Squadron's "In Action" series has covered the F-14 in three different editions (No. 32 from 1977, No. 105 from 1990, and an un-numbered 2018 release in the current "all color" format) plus a "Walkaround" book.  All editions should be reasonably available new or used for no more than $20 USD each. Each has mostly unique content so all are worth having, but if you're on a tight budget the 2018 version would be the "best buy."

Edited by CT7567
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I have a Daco book and it is a good visual resource when building F-14. There are quite a lot of pictures of areas of the airplane that I never actually took a picture myself through out few times I've seen the plane in museums (and I took a lot) especially the pictures of instrument panels since on all museum cats there are just holes instead of actual instruments :( And it also has projections of the plane that might help during the build

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Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

 

DACO book ordered.

 

Shame about the quality of the MDF, I have the first half dozen or so of these when they came out and found them quite good and a novel approach at the time. I have never had any positive experiences with the current publisher so in a way I am not surprised

Edited by dromia
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Whilst waiting for the DACO book to arrive I set to attacking the bookshelves to see what was in the rows and early on I struck luck, Scale Aircraft Modelling March 2003 has an "Aircraft in Profile" article on the F-14 with eight pages of profiles so should compliment the DACO book.

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If you want to add detail, you will sure find the Daco book fantastic. These books are really the definitive resources on the types they cover when it comes to details. These and a couple other series that however do not cover the Tomcat.

The only "problem" is that this book will show you even more how much work the old tool Hasegawa Tomcat needs. It's not a bad kit, but it's still a kit from the '70s.

 

Good to hear you're also sorted for profiles. In any case, if you have any doubt post a question here, there are a few people who know a lot about Tomcats

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I think you will be over-the-moon with the DACO book. It is hard to imagine a more comprehensive, close-up record of the Tomcat. Not the cheapest book available on the subject, but one that is very unlikely to be superseded in its field. Very, very highly recommended.

 

Chris.

 

PS: Just before the second edition of the book was printed a few years ago, there was a copy of the original on Amazon for a mere £999.00! For some unexplained reason, it didn't sell....   

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I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this model as it is what it is just need few enhancements in the cockpit area and the like to give something to paint.  I'll be going nowhere near shape corrections on this one, the raised panels lines are fine lightly done and with a little shading will look alright in this scale.

 

The type doesn't really interest me so unlikely I'll be building another any time soon but a good book is a good book regardless and always worth treasuring. Their lightning book will be next on the list as even although I have lots of references for this type already you can never have to many and I have a couple of vacuum form lightnings that I am hoping to get to this year, now the EE Lightning is a jet that does float my boat.

 

Pricing nowadays is just beyond understanding, as it is currently in print and available new I thought I would have look at second hand and all the dealers prices were a hundred quid upwards so ordered direct from DACO.

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I can only assume that dealers put over-inflated prices on some books to appeal to the "one-in-a-thousand" enthusiasts who have more money than they know what to do with (and have no time to look for an alternative source). Having said that, the copy of the original-edition DACO F-14 book at a grand was on Amazon for well over a year and still went unsold. Did anyone really think they would get that much for a £35.00 book? To me, that is seriously crazy.....

 

Chris.  

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Crazy prices like the £999 asked for the Daco book are not the result of greedy dealers but are a stupid consequence of the improper use of automatic price settings, where sometimes two or more listings based on this method start increasing the price one against the others. Any time such a price is displayed and there's no other item of the kind available, it may be worth contacting the dealer asking for the real price, as clearly £999 is not a normal price for a book like the Daco one that has always been relatively easily available through these years.

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